[b]Mystery vs. mathematics
1Co 2:1-16 ...[i] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery ... But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Wondering aloud ...
What ever became of mystery? The very essential and I am want to put it even guarded aspect of those things that belong to God alone. That which compel some of us to be at a constant prying into ...
A thought jumped up relating elsewhere in prayer the other day; Have we in far too many cases traversed mystery for a mathematical?
[i]Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
This would beg and open up a thousand similar questions across many a topic. Predestination and that which is post destinated, the penchant of those who [i]think[i]ease
[i]Led
What I fear most is that even the best of us can become unwittingly dupes of bringing the majesty and great mystery of God down to our human level. The very thing that would cause such an uproar over those in the broader reaches of Christendom do on a more constant and considerable surface level, we can do as a philosophical and theological Rubik's cube, if we could just get the last couple of blocks to line up ...
Look at what this has done even to our fellowship with one another in these parts. We often have 'combatants' and arguments that are produced by our [i]thinking[i]knowing
Other questions raised are towards how does the lack of mystery apply to faith, to trust ... childlike? In general are not children wide eyed and full of awe and mystery towards so much and rather than that spirit have we become stuffy, curmudgeon's adept at perhaps the arithmetic of scripture but are almost forced to add asides somewhere along the line ... [i]of course ____
[i]But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so [u]the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God
Would not be attempting to thwart anything nor do the same parsing of scripture by way of mention and perhaps that is part; I believe far too often we are not sure how we perceive that which is brought forth, are we making statement or drawing towards [i]have you considered[i]His stead
It is a general observation and is of a personal reflection often here to take in much from the variety of postings, a couple of recent examples;
There are others, the oft dredged up and forever resurrected and never to die battle of wits over two men of God and their particular takes, the long running equivalent of the Hatfield's and McCoy's ... Calvinism and Arminianism. One could think this to be the whole of Christianity itself I might imagine to an outside observer, has that ever occurred to anyone else, how detrimental, no particular ramifications from these things? But again, would relate it back to the theatrics of mathematics over against the mystery that is.
Am deriving much from here as usual. The aforementioned links only as fodder for contemplation and not as statement. Perhaps if anything it is to re-inject back into much this loss of the sense of mystery that seems to have been bartered out for the mechanical, the mathematical, the explanatory.
Recent days found myself in a bit of perplexity of my own choosing and being too soon for too much analytical introspection this close to after the fact ... Would just say that there is a casting back unto the natural that one can only know by absence of the Holy Spirit. Some day if the Lord wills may open this up more broadly. There is a great deal of mystery even in this and paradoxically it buttresses an inward argument over what we may become to comfortable with ... Bear with me. In various places I have taken notice of something that I do not often see spoken of;
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath they die, and return to their dust. (RV)
That of the Lord hiding His face. We know of it from, for instance;
Isa 59:2 but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Due to sin. But I also find that this may be even in things 'arbitrary' and on purpose for His own reasonings and dealings; Job. Jesus left to being tempted by the devil, Peter being sifted as wheat, etc.
The 'reasons' are often for later purposes and would even go so far as to say that many of the dealings of the Lord are not disclosed to us at all. It is why I have become so much of an advocate for holding many things in abeyance. This even subtle mathematical approach has us bound up in producing [i]conclusions
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, [u]but canst not tell
And we say ... ?
Joh 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, [b]what is that to thee
"I am not telling you".
[i]Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might [u]know the things that are freely given to us
There is a real generalization to much of this I am aware and am interspersing scripture as food for thought only.
There is no getting around the great dichotomy that of which is spiritual and that which is natural. [i]comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God[i]truly[i]His
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
[i]thou takest away their breath they die, and return to their dust
This may be all too simplistic but bring it forth to remembrance. I am concerned for those who have but a few years in the Lord under their belt so to speak and are maybe even of a high knowledge of the word, others who have some longevity and yet have gone astray from the characteristics, the character that ought to be shown forth and have gone ... mathematical.
What are we to say to ...
Waiting
Quietness
Hope
Love ... endures all things
Endurance
Silence
Seasons
How much of these things were telling of Jesus Himself
How much was kept, held in abeyance ...
From Him
From us
Mystery
There is much to be found wanting from this. Certainly there are answers to spiritual questions. Absolutely there are absolutes. There those things known and those to be learned, I do believe that is a proper designation for a disciple, [i]a learner
I cannot begin to tell how much of surprise and seemingly contradiction the Lord will allow for His own purposes. It creates an apprehension and an anticipation for and in any given moment. The great challenge it seems is to be simply led of the spirit and to desire that, preform to that.
Great is the mystery.
